The National Center for Health Statistics released new data showing a widespread rise in fatalities due to fentanyl overdose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), based on the latest available death certificate records, estimated that 100,300 Americans died of drug overdoses from May 2020 to April 2021. The CDC states that this number is not an official count, and it can take several months before investigations involving drug fatalities are final. Unfortunately, the current data shows that overdose deaths have more than doubled since 2015.
The fentanyl overdose crisis is a disaster with disproportional consequences, a never-before-seen human tragedy involving illicit drugs — a tragedy with long-lasting repercussions for so many. Unfortunately, future evidence is not looking much better. In reality, the current unreported situation is looking quite grim.
Officials believe the main drivers of this overdose crisis are the growing predominance of the powerful and deadly fentanyl strain in the illicit drug supply and the COVID pandemic, which left many people struggling with drug use while socially isolated and unable to get help. But what about those who struggle with mental illness? Why are they not mentioned in these studies? They were also confined during COVID-19 and unable to receive the medical and therapeutic attention they needed.
In a statement, President Joe Biden called the overdose crisis “a tragic milestone.” But what does that mean? Although drug overdose fatalities have been rising for more than two decades, the death rate has been dramatically accelerated in the last two years. But how is this statement making any difference if fentanyl continues to come through our borders at inconceivable amounts and mental health care is nearly nonexistent for those who desperately need it?
Fentanyl is the Major Driver in the U.S. Overdose Crisis
The new overdose CDC data also shows West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Tennessee with the highest overdose death rates per 100,00 people in the last 12 months. These three states are followed by Kentucky, Ohio, Louisiana, and Maryland. The study also found that the estimated death toll increased in all but four states in the same period a year earlier — Delaware, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and South Dakota. On the other hand, the states with the most significant increases were Vermont (70%), West Virginia (62%), and Kentucky (55%). The majority of these drug deaths involve illicit fentanyl, a highly lethal opioid that dealers are currently mixing with other drugs — one of the reasons why deaths from methamphetamines and cocaine also are rising. The DEA recently warned of an increase in fake pills containing fentanyl.
Fentanyl overdose deaths are also rising in Las Vegas. The Southern Nevada Health District recorded 160 fatalities through August this year, which puts the region on pace to surpass the 193 fentanyl deaths seen last year.
A Fatal Drug
The cartels use chemicals from China to mass produce and distribute fentanyl and meth across the USA, reports a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) administrator. Just this year, the DEA has seized 12,000 pounds of fentanyl, a record amount. This number does not include or consider the amount of this drug that was successfully smuggled into our country, and based on the number of fatal overdoses, that amount must be considerable. Additionally, many people that died did not choose to take fentanyl. Instead, the powerful drug was laced or replaced by whatever substance they thought they acquired.
Mass quantities of fentanyl are being produced in Sinaloa with the sole intention of smuggling it to the United States. In Mexico, 11 pounds of fentanyl typically sells for around $15,000.00, while that same amount of the drug sells for more than a hundred thousand dollars in the U.S. Now, if you take into consideration that 11 pounds of fentanyl contain nearly two and a half million fatal doses, you understand how easy and dangerous this drug is.
Drug overdoses are preventable, tragic events that have even surpassed deaths due to car crashes, guns, and even flu and pneumonia. The total is close to that for diabetes, the nation’s No. 7 cause of death. The devastating number of people dying from a fentanyl overdose is unacceptable, and a strong and immediate response is needed on so many levels.
Written by Clare Waismann, Registered Addiction Specialist (RAS), Substance Use Disorder Certified Counselor (SUDCC) and the founder of Waismann Method® and Domus Retreat®.